PARACHINAR, Nov 19: Twenty-eight people were killed and 27 others injured on the fourth day of sectarian clashes in Kurram Agency before a jirga brokered a ceasefire in Parachinar city on Monday.

However, reports of continuing clashes were received from Pewar, Tirimengal, Muqbal, Baleshkhel, Sadda, Arawali and Boshera areas of the agency. Tension was escalating in the lower parts of the agency along the border with Afghanistan.

The army took control of Parachinar on Monday but sporadic fire continued around the city.

As rival groups exchanged heavy fire, helicopter gunships pounded different locations.

The army shelled the strongholds of combatants in an effort to dislodge them.

Sources put the death toll at 109 with 245 injured in four days of clashes.

In April this year, around 150 people were killed and more than 300 injured in sectarian clashes in the agency.

Eight people were killed and 18 suffered injuries in Sadda on Monday when two mortar shells landed in a busy market place. Eight people were killed in Arwali area and six others by mortar fire in Parachinar city.

The army has taken control of the main Imambargah and the Hanafiya mosque in the city. They made announcements on loudspeakers, warning the combatants to leave the city as a ceasefire was in place.

The clashes have caused widespread devastation. Many shops and houses were razed or gutted during the day.

Hospitals in the agency ran out of medical supplies because of the large number of injured people and road blockades. Local people said that either the roads should be reopened or arrangements be made to airlift the injured to other areas.

A 16-member peace jirga comprising elders of the Orakzai Agency and Hangu district reached Parachinar and managed to broker the ceasefire in the city after holding talks with representatives of the warring sides.

The members were also holding negotiations with elders of other areas to stop the fighting.

A jirga member told Dawn that they had managed to persuade the elders of Shia and Sunni sects to allow the army personnel to enter their areas for shifting the injured to hospitals.